More on Why Our Nation is Polarized

A recent posting on this site argued that while deep, hostile polarization is a relatively recent development in modern America worth noting, the more important question is why.  Without a credible answer, the road back to respectful dissent and civility will remain hidden.

I suggest that coarse, hateful and obscene language which permeates American culture is a major culprit.

The Fifties can be cited as the way things used to be.  Speech mores – what’s appropriate to say and what’s not - - were generally enforced both by the culture and our laws.

The Federal Communications Commission, along with the motion picture and television industries, set standards of “decency” and had authority to ban language which did not comply.  Censorship of certain words (use your imagination) and expressions was a given.  For most Americans, that was quite all right.  The President for most of that decade, Dwight Eisenhower, a veteran of Army life, undoubtedly had a vocabulary which contained most of the offensive language.  But in accord with the times, they were not hurled at political opponents.

But times, they were “a-changing”.  In the vanguard was a foul-mouthed comedian named Lenny Bruce who captured the national spotlight in 1961 when he was arrested for uttering obscenities during one of his comedy shows in San Francisco (surprise?).

Other arrests elsewhere – and some convictions – on similar grounds followed.

Interestingly, Bruce’s conduct, which would have been roundly condemned in years before, was defended – even applauded – by then prominent entertainers and writers including Woody Allen, Bob Dylan and Normal Mailer.  Social mores were no longer uniform.

The counter-culture’s influence expanded during the decade and not unexpectedly, obscene, pro-communist placards were a regular presence in anti-Vietnam War protests, carrying into the early 70s with President Nixon as the target.

Where was the outrage over the coarse language?  College campuses were in turmoil.  Faculty members who were not heralding “free speech” were cowed – with few exceptions – into silence.  Religious leaders?  Fundamental Christians were appalled and said so.  But mainstream church heads bit their tongues.  They didn't want to seem anachronistic by being judgmental. 

The media?  You know the answer.  Liberals are not going to criticize language which offends someone else’s sensibilities – as long as its not their own.

I will note a personal anecdote that suggests the feminist movement, which spawned in the sixties, aided in the debasement of language.  The Sensible Conservative remembers, as a youngster, being aware that I shouldn’t expose my female friends to the language of the boy’s locker room.  Later, girls and women started using the same language as their male acquaintances to show their equality.  That former check on male crudity accordingly disappeared.

So the deterioration of cultural decency accelerated.  If people see others “getting away with it”, the dark side of their nature also comes out.  There are no repercussions.

And then came the internet.  Developed in the 60s, it did not, however, become widely available until the 90s.  Not immediately, but soon the mores came crashing down.

Howard Stern hit the airwaves in 1986.  The Jerry Springer Show debuted in 1991.  Sure, these shows generated “tsk-tsk” from many, but they were highly popular.  And most ominously, in retrospect, was the launch of Facebook in 2004.  The apparent certainty of anonymity unleashed a torrent of hostility - human nature was indeed unbounded.

There are indeed other contributions, including hip-hop music and “gangsta” rap glorifying violence, hostility to police and contempt for women.

Taken together, all these factors resulted in a coarseness permeating American culture.  The collapse has been so complete that in 2019 those in our highest political offices trade slurs as if such talk is acceptable discourse… as apparently it is for President Trump and his Congressional foes.

Is there a way back?  Or is the trip over the precipice inevitable?  Look around.  Is this stark picture really just hyperbole?